


The Years In Between

by Oteruea



Series: The Years [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Self-Indulgent, Spoilers, assume everyone has been recruited and is on the highest possible support with eachother, every chapter can be read seperately, everyone pines for byleth, gonna keep the route vaguish, i'm literally just posting as I type, i'm sorry I still haven't played Crimson Flower, no proofreader, spoilers everywhere, will add characters as they appear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2020-09-30 14:28:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20448620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oteruea/pseuds/Oteruea
Summary: They didn't believe Byleth was dead at first. They searched. Through rubble, through the cliffs, everywhere. Their families, duties and responsiblities called them back. One by one, they drifted away and those happy days became a dream for most of them. What were the students doing in those 5 years?A series of drabbles/short stories/self contained ficlets about the time skip years. Pre-time skip spoilers. Relatively canon compliant.





	1. The Promise (Year 2 - Sylvain and Mercedes)

Only a few of them would admit it but it was the promise - the promise that kept them going. Those long days, those bloody days, those monotonous days... they remembered the promise and fought another day. Even if it was a promise initially made in happier times, they swore to themselves that they would meet it. Five years on from the promise, they were all going to return to Garreg Marrach. They would meet up on what would have been the Millennium Festival.They would fulfill an old promise– either for a reunion or for a funeral. 

They didn’t know which one it would be. There was still another 3 years to go.

It had been Mercedes’s idea to change the promise. In the Autumn, her father had sent her to the Gautier lands, ostensibly to sell weapons and goods on his behalf while providing healing services at the church. The Gautier lands were far away from the Empire's human forces but still faced constant attack from the Empire's magical flying beasts. 

"I don't know what it is but playboys tend to go for motherly girls if they ever settle down at all," grumbled her father, "and you two should know each other from your school days. "  
  
Mercedes smiled at the memory as she sat in Sylvain's villa, sipping a cup of tea. He had invited her back to his villa for tea. It had been a grueling week of healing. If it wasn't magical beasts, it was bandit attacks and vice versa. She had done her best and there were no deaths to report.  


"You're a life saver Mercedes," said Sylvain, "I was afraid I would have to update the death records again."

“If nothing is heard of a person for five years, they are considered dead in the records,” Mercedes said softly and suddenly to Sylvain. Sylvain clenched his left fist at the sudden change in topic and smiled brightly at Mercedes.  


“Now, now Mercedes, our professor and His Highness will pull off a miracle and just stroll back like old times,” he said far too jovially.  


“I believe so too,” said Mercedes softly, “But it has been two years and many of us have been losing hope. Too much has happened. Do you remember our promise all those years ago? The one to reunite at the Millennium Festivities. I was thinking that we should use the old promise to send the Professor back to the Goddess... if we still don't hear anything from them."  


Sylvain was silent and tense. He didn't believe Teach was gone. They were like Dimitri. They could, no they would come back. Otherwise what was the point in holding on the land for them?

“Well, it is a good chance to see everyone. I wonder if everyone has grown prettier, just like you have.” joked Sylvain.

"We... we've all grown," she said softly as she grasped her tea cup, "I wonder how the Professor has changed."

Sylvain stared at his cup of tea then ruffled his fingers through his hair. He gave a sigh then a shrug.

"I'll be there. I'll wait. I swear to you Mercedes, I will be there at the Millennium Festival,” he said fervently.  


“Will you help me tell the others about this?” she asked. Sylvain nodded. Mercedes smiled at him and they sat there, not thinking about the blood, destruction and war if for just for a few precious moments.  



	2. Visitors (Year 3 - Sylvain, Marianne, Felix, Leonie)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the middle of a lonely, long cold winter - Sylvain receives visitors.

Sylvain rode around the fortress, concluding the end of his daily patrol. The Empire had temporarily stopped sending human forces - "They're only bandits" and were now concentrating again on flying magical beasts to pressure the Gautier lands. 

The villagers were used enough to fighting and hunting beasts. In the winter, anyone who could hunted - cheese could only last you so far. Sylvain trained them on how to fight magical beasts and other people. There were three daily patrols and he made sure he went on at least one of the daily patrols each day. Those who couldn’t fight, were hired in the villa to help them make some extra coin.

Sylvain always snorted when he recalled his father calling the fortress “The Summer Villa”. It was far away from the main Gautier residence, standing on the border of the Gautier lands. It perched on the top of the sheer cliff, tall and forbidding in a desolate winter. It was far away from most invaders - except for bandits and it was far away from his father. He was rather grateful when It was far away enough from his father and that was good enough for him. He didn’t complain when his father made a “gift” of it to him - his father might have given him one of the residences close to him. The only advantage to that would have been the pretty girls.  
  
There weren't any pretty girls near his villa - the pretty girls all had gone down the mountain when they heard he was coming. Not that he had much inclination nowadays to chase the skirts - much to his regret. He kept thinking about the Professor and Dimitri if he didn’t keep himself occupied. They had to defend their lands and keep it safe for Dimitri. Dimitri needed to have a kingdom to come back to.

Not that they knew what happened to Dmitri. When they got the news that Dimitri broke free, they searched. 

“Since you’re paying me,” said Felix as he cut through the swatches of forest. Ingrid flew above and Sylvain rode throughout the lands. They didn’t even find Dedue. They had to return to their respective lands.

If there wasn’t a body, they could hope. Hope refused to die.  
  
Dimitri could not die.

Sylvain spurred his horse on harder, the fast ride helping him forget. The Gautier horses were bred to be able to run in any terrain and carry heavy weights. Some of his babies could even ride vertically. They were more like goats in that respect. He returned to his “villa”. He gave his horse to one of the stable boys and then slowly strode into the entrance hall.  
  
He saw Marianne shivering in the hall as anxious maids gave her hot drinks and cloaks to warm her up. Leonie was giving instructions to a stable boy about her horse. Felix was staring rather grimly at the maids, his cloak on Marianne. Sylvain ran up to them with a broad grin on his face.

“A pretty thing like you shouldn’t shiver in the cold,” he said to Marianne as he placed another blanket over her shoulders. 

“What about me?” joked Leonie.  
  
“Ahhh, Leonie, the cold can't even approach you. Your beauty burns it away, ”Sylvain winked at her. She snorted and nodded at Felix.

“Are we done here?” demanded Felix impatiently. He nodded curtly at Marianne’s direction, “Just get her to her room.” 

“Just follow me ladies and gentlemen,” said Sylvain as he lead the way to one of the lower rooms. He smiled excitedly at all of them. He hadn’t seen any of his old classmates since the summer when Dorothea left some of her orphans with him or autumn when Mercedes left. Otherwise it was just him and his thoughts and the letters they all sent when he had a spare moment.

The lower rooms weren't too far away. A roaring fire had been built there - built there every day for a week. Hilda had sent him a letter giving him a very rough estimate of when to expect Marianne. She didn't even tell him who she had sent with Marianne in her letter.

  
“Here we are!” said Sylvain happily, “I got the servants to make up a good fire and fetch warmer clothes for you girls. And you must really join me for dinner. You can try some of our famous cheese.”

“We will. But in the meantime, you can stand guard,” laughed Leonie. She pushed Sylvain out of the room playfully then shut the door.  
  
Felix stood guard at the door. Sylvain looked at him sideways.  
  
“Any news?” he asked. Felix shook his head. Sylvain sighed and raised his arms, his hands on his neck, leaning back on the door. 

“Well it has been 3 years,” sighed Sylvain, “Where is Marianne going next?”

“We weren't told,” said Felix shortly.  
  
“Why does such a pretty girl like her have to go into hiding anyway?” asked Sylvain. Hilda had just told him that Marianne would be staying with him for the winter and he was never one to reject a pretty girl. Or Byleth. Sylvain shrugged. No matter how much he thought about Byleth, he couldn’t forget them. But there was two more years. They would be officially dead in 2 more years.  
  
Felix gave a shrug. Sylvain was tempted to ruffle Felix's hair. He hadn't seen Felix in months - the other man had been busy picking up any mercenary job he could. Sylvain planned some summer jobs for Felix to do - he could help clear out the bandits... or the Empire's summer forces. Right now, right here, he had Felix and he was going to enjoy it. He was also going to enjoy Leonie and Marianne - they had grown prettier since he last saw them before they all left the Officer's Academy.  
  
"Well, here's a bit of fun for you. I’m going to hunt down some thieves tomorrow. Care to join me Felix? I’ll pay Leonie and you for the job. If Marianne is up to it, she heal us,” said Sylvain.  
  
Felix thought shortly then nodded. Sylvain smiled - the winter looked considerably more entertaining than he had originally predicted.


	3. Departure (Year 5 - Mercedes)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mercedes rarely insisted on having things her own way. Some promises are too big to back down from.

Mercedes knew that the pantry was in apple-pie order, she had put it in order herself. She couldn’t help herself from going down into the pantry and the cellar to make sure everything was in order.

  
  
The cellar was filled with everything that would make her father and the servants comfortable in her absence. Smoked meats. Barrels of flour. Barrels of apples and pears. Mercedes felt the cold breeze on her neck and she shivered slightly. She was unused to short hair but it would grow on her like a habit, like her bad habit of letting other people tell her what to do. She tripped out of the cellar and walked through the pantry. The shelves were gleaming with the jams, jellies and preserves she had put up with the servants. The cook curtsied to her and she smiled at Helena. Helena would look after her father.

She walked slowly to the entrance hall. She didn’t know when Sylvain and Felix would arrive, only that it would be in the afternoon. Her father strode in the entrance hall grumpily. “Your trunk is ready,” he said shortly. She took his hands.  
  
  
“Thank you Father,” said Mercedes.

  
His eyes widened and he turned away abruptly. “I’ll wait here until your carriage arrives.” He said curtly.

  
“I’ll ask Joachim to build up the fire then,” said Mercedes.  
  
  
“You don’t need to go. You should be preparing for your marriage. You’re not getting any younger,” said her Father.  
  
  
Mercedes shook her head. He had said the same thing for the last three weeks when he had found out about her determination.  
  
  
“Marriage is a woman’s duty and it is my duty to make sure that you are married to a good quality partner that will benefit not only you but the family,” he said as she assisted him with the end of day finances. Mercedes smiled vaguely and pointed out an error he had made in ordering supplies.  
  
  
As the date of the promise approached, she sent a letter to Sylvain confirming her need of a carriage. Then she told her father her intentions. Her Father had raged in anger.

  
“I forbid you to go!” he had shouted, “You will fulfill a woman’s duty.”  
  
  
“I promised. I will see the Professor,” she said, “I can not get married until I send Professor back to the Goddess.”  
  
He raged the whole night. Mercedes sat with him until midnight when she returned to her room. She sat on a comfortable chair by her bed and didn't stir, not even when the candle blew out and the room plunged into darkness. She watched the moon descend and as the sun rose she took out her fabric scissors and cut her hair.  
  
Her father’s eyes bulged out when he saw her at breakfast. She really feared that this time he might have an apoplectic attack.   
  
“You’re almost past marriage age and you cut off your hair?” he had shrieked, “If it wasn’t for your crest, you would have no marriage prospects at all! What will the suitors do?”  
  
“Send the suitors’ letters to the Monastery. I promise you when my hair grows back, I choose a suitor,” she said. His eyes returned to their normal size as he calmed down. The suitors had waited that long, they could wait a bit longer. Some men liked a chase anyway. Over the weeks, he personally supervised the packing of her trunks. She scaled it back to a single personal trunk and filled up the rest with all the necessities the battlefield required.   
  
  
“Sylvain Jose Gautier and Felix Hugo Fradalrius will be accompanying me,” she said a week before her departure. Her father cheered up considerably at the news and was smiles from that day forth. A match with the Gautier playboy or the Fradalrius warmonger wouldn’t be all that bad for business. They would treat her well.  
  
  
“Well, I suppose all of this will work out for the best. It’s good to have suitors that you’ve known for a long time. Not like your mother. They made that mistake for her without my permission,” he had said the night before. Mercedes had clenched her hands together and hid the little letter in her sleeve about Emile, a little bit further up her sleeve.  
  
  
She heard a rumbling and a manservant came running up. The carriage came to a stop outside her home. Sylvain had a carriage with the Gautier horses for all of their classmates who couldn’t ride or walk long distances. As the servants loaded her trunks onto the carriage, she gave her father a hug.  
  
“Don’t get involved in the war foolishness,” he said gruffly, “Also I’ll look up some good suitors for you. Ones better than Gautier or Gloucester.”  
  
  
She hugged him and smiled softly at him. As Sylvain rode off with her in the carriage, Felix slunk off into the bushes, on his way to pick up Annette. Ingrid flew near them to give her greetings then speed off, the wind from her steed’s wings almost knocking off Mercedes’s hat.  
  
  
It was going to be a long ride. Mercedes settled in the carriage and went through all their plans in her head. As the date approached, no one took charge but somehow they made sure that anyone who couldn’t get to the Monastery easily by themselves would have an escort. Felix was going to fetch Annette and bring her to the carriage. Lysithea and Lindhart should be traveling in another carriage together with Dorothea. Bernadetta was riding with Ferdinand. Marianne was riding with Leonie. Ignatz would be traveling with Raphael and as the saying went - "A merchant is safe if a Kirsten is near". And that was all the members of their house that couldn’t travel as easily as the others. The others could make their own arrangements.   
  
Then when they were all gathered there, there would be a funeral service. She would conduct the majority of it. Then they would ask everyone to say a few words of memory for the professor. She clutched her hands and thought of all the words she wished she had said but never had a chance to say.  
  
Professor. Honourable. Respected. Faithful. Excellent. Kind. Tore apart the skies just to protect their students. Protective. Blessed by the Goddess. Beloved by all.  
  
  
  
Beloved.


	4. Flowers (Year 3 - Dorothea)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dorothea may have accidentally gathered a family like she would flowers but she would do anything to make sure her little family grew up well.

Dorothea felt the cool breeze on her face and the warmth of the sun shine down. The children milled about her uncertainly, having never seen grass that wasn't painted on a thin plank of wood. She knelt down and picked some daisies.

"I know how to weave that!" said Marisha. Dorothea smiled and gave Marisha the daises. Marisha plonked down on the grass and her face scrunched up in concentration as she began to weave. The other children began to play - as their natures dictated. Dorothea strolled over to a tree, and sat down, her skirts rippling about her. She waved to the children as they waved to her. She sighed in relief as she heard when she heard the shrieks of laughter and cries of joy coming from her children. She turned her head slightly and saw a familiar red head approach.

She turned her head again. She looked at the lush green mountains covered in wild flowers and the horses peacefully nibbling on clover. If she closed her eyes just for a little bit, just for a while, she could forget the world was at war. Sylvain lightly tapped her on the shoulder. She smiled at him and he grinned back at her.

“I think I will allow the children to play for just a while longer,” she murmured softly, “The trip here, the children did not have a chance to move about. I fear the cart was rather cramped at times.”

“How long will you be staying here for?” asked Sylvain as he nodded at the servants. The servants walked away and began to set up sheets and unpack the baskets of bread and milk they had brought with them. Dorothea tented her fingers and pursed her lips.

“Possibly one week and Ingrid’s family have agreed to board the children until I can send for them,” she said slowly, “Cordelia had us performing Empire Operas for all of this Moon and the company is still performing right now albeit smaller performances until the next season swings into full force. But the Chorus of Children isn’t required for the next season.”

“And what about their star?” asked Sylvain. Dorothea shook her head.

“Manuela is staying with the company. Her name alone ensures seats especially if shes's said to have coached one of the members” sighed Dorothea, “Some of us were held back to ensure the show doesn’t end." Sylvain grimaced and stared at the children in the distance.

“Well its good the children are heading to Ingrid's home. They should be out of the way of the border skirmishes. Is there anyone trying to go after the children? Are they...” he asked his voice trailing off. Dorothea quickly shook her head.

“Linhardt and Mercedes gave them all physical examinations back home,” she said quietly, “Everyone was starting to suffer from exhaustion and malnutrition. Mercedes said that it was nothing that fresh air, good food and exercise couldn’t eventually fix up. Linhardt says they’re all crestless but a few of them have magic capacity.”

“He picked up one of the babies, inspected her as he would a kitten then put her out of the way on a shelf so he could inspect the next baby," she giggled, "Casper then grabbed the girl up off the shelf and was throwing her up in the air.”

“Is Linhardt still…?” asked Sylvain. Dorothea nodded.

“Casper’s family is nominally in charge of guarding them at the moment. But the Emperor is still keeping him well supplied with research materials at the moment. He is advancing the field of White Magic,” said Dorothea quickly.

Sylvain sighed and ruffled his hand through his hair. Dorothea closed her eyes and hummed the first few bars of a peace melody. Sylvain signaled to the servants to start giving the children milk, cheese and bread.

“How did you end up with so many?” joked Sylvain.

Dorothea scrunched her face, “There’s only 30 of them,” she laughed, “they just came along. The company agreed to have them come along as the Children's Chorus because they can carry a tune. And there was nowhere in the Empire to leave them. The House of Serios in Enbarr was burnt down. As it should be. The Emperor is still building her model House of Children.”

“Those children are going to be adults when the Emperor finishes building perfection,” commented Sylvain dryly, “But I suppose there will always be the orphans the Emperor creates.”

Dorothea shook her head slightly at Sylvain. He sighed and lowered his head. Dorothea winked at Sylvain who chuckled.

“I never thought I would see you as a mother of thirty. Are any of them mine?” he laughed quickly.

“I never thought I would see you as a dreamily responsible knight, protecting the weak and slaying the evil,” she joked.

“Ahhh well, our year group turned out some funny surprises,” laughed Sylvain dryly, “An Emperor abyss bent on conquest, a Regicide hunted into the woods, the King of Nobility working as a common mercenary without time to cut his hair - who knows what will happen to the rest of our group?”

Dorothea glanced at Sylvain before staring around. At least all the servants were out of earshot, busy distributing food to the children. Even Cordelia's assigned servant was nominally giving food to the children. 

“No, I understand,” she said softly, “I wish I could tell you more but we were under strict control as we traveled the borders. There was only the standard ghost stories – the monster along the forests, the crusher of skulls, the dead animal corpses and dead empire soldiers with chunks ripped from their flesh. ”

“No, you’ve told me plenty. And it is amazing that you managed to persuade Cordelia to let you come here or to even leave the children with Ingrid,” said Sylvain. Dorothea put a finger to her lips as a Marisha waddled over with her flower crown. Marisha placed the flower crown on Dorothea's head and stared.

“I’m sorry Dorothea,” he said softly.

Dorothea nodded at him and hugged Marisha tightly. She gently pushed Marisha towards the servants and Marisha ran off towards the blankets laden with food.

“I just want these children to live in a world where there is bread and milk for them on the table and warmth, ” she said softly, “I do not know how I will bring it about for these children but I will.”


End file.
